Midsize City Population Growth Remaining Steady: Census Bureau

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Population growth in medium-sized cities largely remained steady even as the national population barely grew, Census Bureau officials said on May 14.

Midsize cities grew by an average of 0.7 percent from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, compared with 1 percent the year prior, according to the newly released analysis. In comparison, the average growth for the largest cities and large cities was just 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, down from 0.9 percent and 1 percent.

Small cities had an average population growth rate of 0.1 percent, down from 0.3 percent.

“Big-city growth slowed significantly between 2024 and 2025, with some major hubs even seeing small declines,” Matt Erickson, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a statement. “In contrast, midsized cities found a ‘Goldilocks zone’ where domestic and international migration, paired with new housing, helped prevent the sluggish growth seen in small towns and larger metropolitan centers.”

The new data came several months after the Census Bureau estimated that immigration to the United States plummeted from mid-2024 to mid-2025, amid a Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration.

The bureau estimated at the time that the country added 1.8 million people, for a growth rate of 0.5 percent.

The bureau classifies cities as: largest cities (at least 250,000 residents), large cities (50,000 to 249,999 residents), medium-sized cities (5,000 to 49,999 residents), and small cities (fewer than 5,000 residents).

Some of the fastest-growing cities are in the medium-sized group, including Princeton in Texas, which grew by 18 percent to 43,524 residents.

Other large population jumps were recorded in the medium-sized cities of Melissa, Anna, and Forney in Texas; Haines City in Florida; Waukee in Iowa; Kuna in Idaho; and Foley in Alabama.

Even when larger cities saw strong population growth, they were often eclipsed by nearby suburbs. Charlotte, North Carolina, for instance, grew by 20,731 residents between 2024 and 2025, numerically more than any city in the country.

The population in nearby Fort Mill, South Carolina, though, jumped by a larger percentage, increasing by 6.8 percent to 38,673.

Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Celina in Texas, and Seattle, Washington, increased the most numerically behind Charlotte.

New York City, easily the most populous city in the country with some 8.5 million people, logged a population decline of 12,196 during the time period in question.

Most growth across cities of all sizes took place in the South, which includes Texas.

Austin crossed the 1 million threshold between 2024 and 2025, marking the 12th U.S. city to reach seven digits in population.